Corylus cornuta

Corylus cornuta, the beaked hazelnut (or just beaked hazel), is a deciduous shrubby hazel found throughout most of North America, from southern Canada south to Georgia and California. It grows in dry woodlands and at forest edges and can reach 4–8 metres (13–26 ft) tall with stems 10–25 cm (4–9 3⁄4 in) thick with smooth gray bark,[1] but it can also remain relatively small in the shade of other plants. The leaves are green, rounded oval with a pointed tip, coarsely double-toothed, 5–11 cm (2–4 1⁄4 in) long and 3–8 cm (1 1⁄4–3 1⁄4 in) broad, with hairy undersides. The male flowers are catkins that form in the fall and pollinate single female flowers the following spring to allow the fruits to mature through the summer season.

Corylus cornuta
Beaked hazel foliage
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fagales
Family: Betulaceae
Genus: Corylus
Species:
C. cornuta
Binomial name
Corylus cornuta
Natural range of Corylus cornuta
Beaked hazel (Corylus cornuta), raw
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy2,629 kJ (628 kcal)
22.98 g
Dietary fiber9.8 g
52.99 g
14.89 g
VitaminsQuantity %DV†
Thiamine (B1)
42%
0.480 mg
Riboflavin (B2)
13%
0.160 mg
Niacin (B3)
21%
3.190 mg
Vitamin B6
42%
0.550 mg
MineralsQuantity %DV†
Calcium
44%
441 mg
Copper
60%
1.200 mg
Iron
24%
3.12 mg
Magnesium
66%
235 mg
Manganese
362%
7.600 mg
Phosphorus
59%
411 mg
Potassium
16%
738 mg
Sodium
0%
2 mg
Zinc
22%
2.06 mg
Other constituentsQuantity
Water5.92 g
Link to USDA Database entry
†Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults.
Source: USDA FoodData Central

Description

Corylus cornuta is named from its fruit, which is a nut enclosed in a husk with a tubular extension 2–4 cm (3⁄4–1 1⁄2 in) long that resembles a beak. Tiny filaments protrude from the husk and may stick into, and irritate, skin that contacts them. The spherical nuts, which are surrounded by a hard shell, are edible though small. The beaked hazel is the hardiest of all hazel species, surviving temperatures of −50 °C (−58 °F) at its northern limits.[1]

Varieties

There are two varieties, divided by geography:[2]

  • Corylus cornuta var. cornuta – Eastern beaked hazel. Small shrub, 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) tall;[2] 'beak' longer, 3 cm (1 1⁄4 in) or more.
  • Corylus cornuta var. californica – Western beaked hazel or California hazelnut. Large shrub, 4 to 15 m (13 to 49 ft) tall;[2] 'beak' shorter, usually less than 3 cm (1 1⁄4 in). The Concow tribe called this variety gōm’-he’’-ni (Konkow language).[3]

Range and uses

The seeds are dispersed by jays and rodents such as red squirrels and least chipmunks.[2] Although C. cornuta is somewhat shade tolerant, it is more common in forests with fairly open canopies than denser ones.[2] However, it is intolerant of entirely open areas that get hot and dry.[1] Fire kills the above-ground portion of the shrub, but it resprouts fairly readily after fire, and in fact American Indians in California and Oregon used fire to encourage hazelnut growth, as they used hazelnuts for food, baskets, medicine, and other purposes.[2] It is considered an excellent nut, with the same uses as any hazelnut.[4]

Squirrels eat the nuts of C. cornuta californica, and deer and livestock browse its foliage.[5]

  • Male catkins
  • Female flowers
  • Leaves (and three fruits forming)
  • Immature fruit showing the "beak"
  • An immature nut with its hard shell

References
  1. "Corylus cornuta" (PDF). Alberta Centre for Reclamation and Restoration Ecology. University of Alberta. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 August 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  2. Fryer, Janet L. (2007). "Corylus cornuta". Fire Effects Information System (FEIS). US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service (USFS), Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory – via https://www.feis-crs.org/feis/.
  3. Chesnut, Victor King (1902). Plants used by the Indians of Mendocino County, California. Government Printing Office. p. 405. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  4. Nyerges, Christopher (2017). Foraging Washington: Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Foods. Guilford, CT: Falcon Guides. ISBN 978-1-4930-2534-3. OCLC 965922681.
  5. Whitney, Stephen (1985). Western Forests (The Audubon Society Nature Guides). New York: Knopf. p. 428. ISBN 0-394-73127-1.
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